


Spirit Ink

by Moonalight



Series: A Golden Deal [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Blood and Injury, Forced Relationship, Older Sibling Dipper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:49:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 7,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25916878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonalight/pseuds/Moonalight
Summary: After Bill made the deal with half-conscious Pine Tree, things change between the two of them. But Dipper isn't ready to just roll over and let Bill treat him like a puppet again. Especially not when Bill had been the one to hurt him.
Relationships: Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines
Series: A Golden Deal [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880839
Comments: 43
Kudos: 165





	1. Waking Up

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this series is a go I guess? People seemed to really like it so we're going to keep it rolling!

******

Dipper hadn’t thought he would wake up. It was a completely reasonable presumption considering he remembered being tossed like a rag doll into several very hard trees. 

Of course, waking up with blood on one’s lips and general confusion was preferred over not waking up at all. His hand drifted up to brush over the substance on his lips, feeling wetness as well as cracked dryness. Lifting the appendage higher to look, he found his fingertips coated in red. He had been right about the iron taste in his mouth. 

He let his hand drop into the pine needles once more, suddenly too tired to hold it up anymore. His eyes looked skyward, past the spinney treetops to the dark blanket far above. Glowing orbs dotted that blanket. 

When had it gotten dark? He’d left the shack after lunch. 

Trying to move led to a creaking in his bones. Stiffness from lying in that awkward position for so long. With some extra effort, he was able to push himself into sitting up, hunched forward over his splayed legs. 

For a moment, he had a distinct feeling of wrongness as he stared down at his left leg. It was drenched in blood. Some already caking as it dried. He let his fingers reach forward to run over the mess. His jeans were torn and ripped in several spots; smaller splashes of blood already dried. 

But his leg...

Dipper knew something was very wrong with this situation. As his fingers continued to probe at the skin, he realized what was so strange. 

Despite all that blood, all that damage to his clothing, there was no wound.

He shifted, checking over the other spots on his legs that were painted with that horrid color. Not one injury, not even a scratch. 

Where had all the blood come from?

His right hand rose to grip his other shoulder. The memory of hitting wood, of his left side exploding in pain until he was sure he had been cut in half. The hand trailed down his shoulder, past his tee-shirt’s sleeve, past the dotted freckles, until it rested on the back of his left hand. 

Staring at it. Something was very, very wrong here. 

The black triangle didn’t move under his gaze. It just sat there. Inconspicuous as a tattoo, and yet completely conspicuous. 

Because Dipper didn’t have that when he woke up that morning. 

“Wha-!” He choked. Iron sliding down his throat and suffocating him. He reached up to his nose, pressing down on the slowly moving blood sliding into his open lips. Pinching the neck of his shirt, he brought it up to wipe away the horrible tasting liquid.

“Careful not to croak kid,” he froze, his muscles locking up as a familiar and terrifying voice came from behind him, “I put a little bit of work into you, and I’d hate to see my investment ruined.”


	2. Shaking Pine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pine Tree flinched back, twisting his body so he could pull himself back across the forest floor and put some space between him and Bill. His body was trembling, eyes wide in fear as he kept them locked on the golden pyramid. It was really starting to irritate Bill.

******  
It took awhile for Pine Tree to wake up. Bill was just starting to get bored enough to torture small innocent animals when night fell. A lot of his self control went into stopping that urge. He knew from experience that the kid hated waking up surrounded by entrails. That was not a morning he wanted to repeat. He wanted to make a good impression on his future bride after all. 

When a groan sounded from Pine Tree, Bill was quick to lose his boredom. Adjusting his bow tie and reaching up to brush the edge of his top hat, he waited as the kid started to move. 

It was amusing to watch his confusion over waking up. He definitely didn’t remember what had happened just yet. Just as Bill expected, Dipper was quick to notice the effects of their deal. All the beautiful blood but no pain or injury. It was almost a shame, but Bill much preferred when his genius kid could think straight. 

Pine Tree noticing his new mark was what signaled his entrance. Clearing his bricks quietly, he floated forward to stop just behind his back and spoke, “Careful not to croak kid. I put a little bit of work into you, and I’d hate to see my investment ruined.” 

He watched curiously as Dipper turned. Those chestnut eyes were on him once again, wide and terrified. Bill waited until the reaction came. Until the kid remembered, or just reacted to him being there. 

But neither happened.

Instead, Pine Tree just stared. And then he started to shake. 

“Pine Tree?” He floated a bit closer, slightly disappointed to not be audience to a massive freak out like usual. The kid’s body flinched at his name, drawing even more curiosity from the dream demon. 

“What’s wrong kid?” He asked, finally drifting forward until he was eye to eyes with Dipper, “Look, I know you don’t like the blood, but it really goes well with your eyes. I couldn’t just remove it! It would be a sin to your beauty!”

His words didn’t bring about a usual reaction yet again. Pine Tree flinched back, twisting his body so he could pull himself back across the forest floor and put some space between him and Bill. His body was trembling, eyes wide in fear as he kept them locked on the golden pyramid. It was really starting to irritate Bill. 

“Aaaaaaah,” he sighed, summoning and twirling his cane so he had something to do with his hand other than crushing one of the life forms he could sense nearby. That certainly wouldn’t help his kid’s reaction to him at the moment, “Is it really that bad? Yeah! It was kind of unfair to make a deal to you in that state, but would you rather have died? I can correct that misunderstanding now!”

His eye bugged as he said that, turning bright red and deadly as his triangle shape grew to a more threatening size. Blue flames danced around him, a familiar sight for Dipper that he thought would bring back some of his spice. But it just made the kid whimper. 

Usually, the idea of hearing his Pine Tree whimper would do something to Bill. It would excite him and that typically would lead to him doing something insane so Dipper stepped in to stop him. A few threatened townsfolk here, a tortured child there; bang! He had his human’s attention. But this whimper wasn’t what he wanted. It was pure terror, aimed directly at him. 

He returned to his less threatening form, eye narrowing as he tried to piece together where things had gone so wrong that Pine Tree was honestly scared of him. Sure, he liked to tease Bill by saying as much. Sometimes he would half scare the kid, but never like this.

“Okay,” he sighed, shrugging his arms in admission, “You got me. Why are you reacting like that?”

Chestnut stared back at him a little longer, pain swirling in their dark depths despite the fact that Bill had taken his injuries away. Then, very shakily, Dipper spoke.

“You’re joking, right?” His lips were trembling, still gorgeously slathered red in a way that made them shine under the moon. Again, was this human seduction?

“Would I be asking you if I was?” He could just read the kid’s mind, but they’d made an agreement against that a while ago. It was the only way Pine Tree would allow Bill to get anywhere close to him. Didn’t he remember his own deal?

“This is one of your games, isn’t it?” Dipper dragged himself even further back, eyes growing brighter in the darkness with wetness that took Bill’s breath away, “You’re just playing around, aren’t you?!”

His voice was rising, breaking as he challenged the demon about whatever he was talking about. Bill didn’t know. He’d expected some sort of bite after basically forcing Pine Tree into an engagement. This wasn’t a bite back for that. The itch to peek into his mind grew, fingers twitching as his frustration grew.

“Right kid,” he sighed, drifting closer despite Dipper trying to crawl away, “Just tell me what’s up with this reaction, okay? I won’t be mad...much.”

“Stop!” The kid’s back collided with a tree as he hit the edge of the clearing, pinned between the floating figure and hardwood. “Please, just-”

A sob broke from his lips, tears slipping past his blinking lids as he looked up at the frozen pyramid. His whole body shook hard enough that he wrapped his arms around himself, trying not to shake apart. 

“Pine Tree?” 

“Stop...” he sobbed, eyes shutting tight and his legs drawing up close to his chest as he curled into himself, “Stop with these sick games...You...you hurt me, and then you-you...”

“Dipper,” black hands hovered just over the mess of brown hair as Bill tried to figure out what he’d just heard, “What do you mean ‘hurt you’? Sure, I’ve done some pretty sick stuff to you in the past, but nothing recent. I’ve been good!”

“Good?!” Those eyes that are usually so full of fire shot back up to look at him in disbelief, enough pain and hate there to make even the insane dream demon drift back a bit, “Good?! You invite me out to the woods to show me something and then you try to kill me? You play with my body like a doll, toss me like a play thing, and leave me to bleed out? That’s good?!”

What.


	3. Forged Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill’s eye was wide in shock as he stared down at him. Dipper’s chest heaved in an effort to get enough air into his lungs. Images flashed across his mind of how powerless he had been. How weak, and how Bill could do anything he wanted to him.

******  
Dipper didn’t understand the things Bill was saying. He was acting so nonchalant as he floated towards him, like he hadn’t just been tossing his body around the clearing just a short time earlier. Smashing him into the trees like a ping pong ball until his body was broken, throat bleeding from all his screaming. 

“Pine Tree,” a purr, pure amusement as he watched him tremble on the ground, blood flowing from his split skin, “You look so pretty like this, I wanted to keep you, you know? Alas,” a flourish as the gold pyramid tilted forward in what could be a bow, hat tipped off to him, “I’ve grown bored. Seriously, you’re not as fun as you were as a kid. So let’s just end it here.”

Pain.

“Pine Tree,” he flinched back, hands scrambling for purchase on the wet grass he dragged himself back, “What’s wrong kid?”

Bill said more after that, but it was like a distant buzz in Dipper’s ears. He couldn’t hear anymore. That terrible gold was all he could see, words from before echoing through his mind. The images of what was going on in front of him were replaced by what had happened before. 

“Hey, how does this feel?” Snap. Scream. “Huh, I guess you’re still good for a couple laughs, Pine Tree!” Blue fire danced through his thoughts, a whimper breaking past his lips as he remembered. 

He pulled himself further across the ground, Bill advancing closer despite it. He didn’t want him near him, didn’t want to hurt again. More words were said, but it was one question that pushed away the horrors Dipper saw flashing before his eyes.

“Why are you reacting like that?”

Dipper stared up at him; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Seriously? Seriously?! He dared to ask that? After what he did?! 

His words were shaky as he spoke, lips trembling against the movement as he asked, “You’re joking, right?”

“Would I be asking you if I was?” Bill had to be playing with him. He was waiting to see how Dipper reacted, that was all. It was always the same thing with him.

‘Pain is hilarious!’

“This is one of your games, isn’t it?” He pulled himself back faster, eyes beginning to water as tears threatened to spill over, “You’re just playing around, aren’t you?!”

Dipper’s voice raised till he was screaming, his throat turning raw from the strain as he shouted at the demon. Bill was still moving, hands opening and closing into fists and he was angry-

“Scream,” he taunted, “Scream for me or I”ll get angry, Pine Tree. You’re so much more fetching when you’re broken like this.” 

More buzzing words that he couldn’t make heads or tails of, and he was crying out in a panic.

“Stop!” His back struck against the hard bark of a tree, cutting past his shirt and leaving scratched over his back, “Please, just-”

His words were broken by a sob, eyes watering over and tears began to stream down his cheeks at last. Finally, Bill listened and stopped a few feet in front of him. The lone eye widened as he looked down at his shaking body. Reflexively, Dipper wrapped his arms around himself, trying to shield himself from the fury he knew was coming. 

“Pine Tree?” Bill sounded genuinely confused and it only made him break more.

“Stop...” he pleaded again, shutting his eyes tight and pulling his legs up to his chest. He curled tightly into himself, burying his face in his knees as he begged, “Stop with these sick games...You...you hurt me, and then you-you...”

He couldn’t finish it, sobs shaking him to much to be coherent. It hurt. All he could taste was iron from blood and his head was pounding from crying. Bill hurt. It hurt. 

“Dipper...What do you mean ‘hurt you’? Sure, I’ve done some pretty sick stuff to you in the past, but nothing recent. I’ve been good!”

No. Nononononononono-

“Good?!” His eyes flew open again as he lifted his head to stare at the lying triangle in front of him. The action made him float back a bit, but Dipper was too far gone to recognize it, “Good?! You invite me out to the woods to show me something and then you try to kill me? You play with my body like a doll, toss me like a play thing, and leave me to bleed out? That’s good?!”

Bill’s eye was wide in shock as he stared down at him. Dipper’s chest heaved in an effort to get enough air into his lungs. Images flashed across his mind of how powerless he had been. How weak, and how Bill could do anything he wanted to him.

‘So beautiful...’

He sobbed again, his arms dropping to his sides in exhaustion, legs splaying back out in front of him. He could feel the stickiness of tears across his cheeks, salt meeting his tongue. Each gasp was a hiccup as he tried to breathe around the sharp intakes of air. 

“Dipper,” Bill was right in front of him, ready to strike, ready to hurt. He closed his eyes against the sight. Dipper didn’t want to see it again. 

“Dipper, please,” the voice was pleading, strained and panicky in a way he’d never heard before. But he wouldn’t be fooled. As soon as he opened his eyes the dream demon would strike. Maybe this time he would actually let him die too. 

“I swear I didn’t,” liar, “please, I didn’t.” 

Why was he begging like that? He was putting a lot into this farce. Just how much did he want to hurt Dipper?

“Pine Tree,” flinch, “let me in. Let me see what happened.” 

In? His mind. Oh. No. That was-

“Please? Come on, I’m asking so nicely here!” He was about to deny him. A word between the sobs and then the pain would start...but what did it actually matter? 

“Just this once,” Bill continued, voice raising to a shrill level of desperation he’d never heard before, “Just to see how it happened. Nothing else, never again without your permission!”

Did he want to relive it? Dipper didn’t have it in him to care anymore. His head rolled back against the tree, tipping to the side as he opened his eyes the barest amount to see his enemy. Tears burned his sight. He could just barely make out the golden shape floating inches from his face. He had no power.

His body must’ve given away his submission, suddenly Bill’s thin fingers were resting on either side of his temples. So small compared to the grown boy, but so powerful and cruel. 

“I’ll take care of you Dipper,” a promise. Of what exactly, he wasn’t sure. Images flashed through his mind; tinged with a blue light he knew meant Bill was watching-

“Hey, Pine Tree,” golden, small, hiding cruel intentions, “I found something in the forest! It’s really cool, you’d like it!”

It was such an innocent action. Bill had done it a couple times since he’d returned for the summer a few weeks before. Leading Dipper to things not recorded in the journal; it’d made him drop his guard. 

“How far out is it?” He’d asked, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

“A bit of a ways,” a shrug, “You’d better be prepared for a long walk.” 

Far enough no one would hear him. 

It had been a shock. One moment he was walking ahead of Bill as he assured him, ‘just a bit further’, and the next he was flying through the air. Pain as he was truck against the trees, the ground. Laughter and mocking. It hurt! Bill, it-

“Hurts!” He cried out again, another sob shaking him as the images stopped. His body was no longer injured, but the pain was still there somehow. Clawing at him, dragging him down. 

“No,” a sharp voice said, only adding to his pain, “no, you’re not hurt, you’re not-what? Who-?” 

He sounded angry, furious. Dipper had done something wrong again. He was going to-

“I’m sorry Dipper,” the sobs were choked back by his throat as his body stopped listening to him. His limbs fell limp, body sliding down the tree trunk till he was twisted at its base. 

The pain was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Dipper, Bill betrayed him.  
> Or did he?  
> Bill might be OOC, but I'm not really into the whole dark, evil relationship thing where Dipper is his slave. Bill just wants to be loved and allowed to love.


	4. Blue Hue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The idea of hurting Pint Tree wasn’t something he enjoyed anymore. Hurting him in another way, maybe. A consensual way.

******  
Bill was honestly furious. He stared down at the crumpled form of his Pine Tree, wound around the base of the tree. So broken, but not in a beautiful way. Not by Bill.

And that was the crux of it, right? Not Bill.

He’d taken the boy’s silence as permission to view the memories; memories that left both of them in a bad state. It’d almost been like Dipper could feel the pain all over again. Writhing and screaming for Bill, at Bill. He had thought the golden demon was hurting him. 

Yes, in the past Bill had hurt Pine Tree pretty badly. He’d done a lot of things back then before he got to know the beautiful genius. But in the last three years there really had been none of that. He’d been good, all for Dipper. 

Now someone had undone all his work to grow closer to his human. They had set a trap for the boy using his appearance, and they had broken him. Dipper was left to bleed out deep in the forest. If Bill hadn’t been passing by in search of new things to show him, it really would’ve happened.

The idea of hurting Pint Tree wasn’t something he enjoyed anymore. Hurting him in another way, maybe. A consensual way. But never the pain he once inflicted on him; emotionally or physically. 

Now his newly betrothed was lying broken under a towering pine tree. Tears stained his cheeks, blood splattered over his skin, and body trembling even while unconscious. Bill didn’t want the kid to hurt himself anymore so he had used his powers to make him pass out. Gently.

But what to do now? None of the other humans could possibly know where Dipper was. He was in no state to be moved at the moment either. 

Plus, Bill was extremely selfish. He was well aware that if he returned him to his family, Dipper would point his finger at the dream demon in blame. They had only been leaving him alone in recent times because he’d been good. This would change that. He wouldn’t be allowed to see Pine Tree, wouldn’t be allowed to discover what had actually happened.

He refused to let that happen. Even if he wound up doing something Dipper wouldn’t like, it was better than losing him. 

With his mind made up, Bill snapped his fingers sharply. A blue glow took up its place around the collapsed body, growing brighter as he began to float. 

“I’ll take care of you,” the golden triangle echoed his previous promise. A tightness filled him, pained in a way he couldn’t actually feel. A swirl of his magic and both of them were gone from the forest. Not a trace was left in their wake; all seemed as though they had never been there. No one would be able to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit short, but I was just trying to get them out of the forest. A lot of the chapters going forward will be told from Dipper's point of view and in an original location. I don't think the rest of the show's cast is going to get much time in this part of the story so I hope you're all fans of just these two!


	5. Golden Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Except it wasn’t a golden triangle standing in front of him. It was a teenager, maybe a year or so older than him. With fair skin and golden hair and-
> 
> Golden eyes.

******  
Waking up in an unfamiliar bed did nothing to help the tightness in Dipper’s chest. A large canopy bed with cascading green curtains all around him. He remembered what had happened, what Bill did to him. But this wasn’t the shack. If he was still alive and not waking up on the forest floor, then where was he? 

He pushed aside the curtain, revealing a spacious room beyond. Stone bricks made up the walls, an open archway to what he could only assume was outside. Had Bill brought him here? Was this a part of his game? Make him feel better so he could hurt him all over again? 

The idea made him shudder. 

His legs were weak as they tried to hold up his weight. For some reason his clothes were clean again; repaired like he had never been covered in blood. Somehow he managed to stumble across the room, using the wall for support as he made for the archway. At the very least he needed to know where he was. Maybe he could still signal his family for help.

Pulling himself through the stone frame, he found himself on a balcony. A loud gasp left his chapped lips, eyes wide as he stared at the view in front of him. 

He wasn’t in Gravity Falls anymore. He wasn’t in Oregon anymore. Dipper didn’t even think he was on Earth anymore.

Beyond the balcony were stars. The background was black and unending, nothing. There was nothing beyond space. He reached for the railing, pulling himself forward to peer over. Below him there was nothing but more stars and space. He was in space. 

“Dipper,” the quiet call had him twisting around, releasing his grip on the railing so he could face the golden triangle-

Except it wasn’t a golden triangle standing in front of him. It was a teenager, maybe a year or so older than him. With fair skin and golden hair and-

Golden eyes. 

“Bill?” He choked out, chestnut scanning the new form in shock. Some of his panic had been pushed down at the unfamiliar sight. A little bit more room to breath without golden bricks on his mind. 

A small smirk, golden eyes, eyes! Two of them! He couldn’t be wrong, right? That had been the demon’s voice. But that definitely wasn’t his body...

“Well,” softer, softer than Bill’s ever was. Full of fondness and trepidation as he looked at him like he was searching for a crack, “I guess this idea was a good one. How are you feeling?”

It had to be him, but why? What part of his game was this? Why did it matter how he looked when he hurt him. 

Pain as Dipper pressed his back into the railing, trying to keep distance from the monster. A hiss escaped his lips, eyes narrowing as he tried to push back the stinging. 

“Oh,” a step forward, black boots leading up to black jeans leading up to a yellow sweatshirt, “Your cuts still hurt, don’t they? You rammed yourself pretty hard into that bark, Pine Tree.” 

Pine Tree. Bill. Demon. Teenager?

“Bill,” he breathed again, pushing further back despite the pain tingling up his spine, “Why are you-what are you-?” To many questions his mind was jumping too fast. He couldn’t-

“Ah, easy Dipper,” black fingerless gloves reaching for him, golden eyes level with his as pale fingers ran down his cheek, “You need to breathe. I can heal you if you would like.” 

Dipper swallowed, unable to stop staring as he comprehended what was happening. Trying to comprehend at least. Those fingers-snap.

He winced, flashing back to that cruel laughter, hand raising without thinking to smack the encroaching fingers away, “DON’T TOUCH ME!”

Silence reigned in the absence of his scream. Gasps, breath coming to fast, chest heaving as he tried impossibly to put more space between him and his tormentor. 

Then, for some reason he couldn’t comprehend, Bill actually backed up. His steps reversed until he was standing in the doorway, watching Dipper with narrowed eyes. The space gave him the chance to breathe. He watched the demon just as intensely, waiting for the moment he would attack, knowing there was absolutely nothing he could do in defense. 

“I’m sorry,” Dipper’s lungs stopped working. He watched in shock as Bill bowed to him, apology on his lips, “I’m sorry.” 

Bill didn’t apologize. Bill hurt him, Bill hurt him, Bill hurt him. 

His legs gave out, back sliding down against the rail pillars until he was seated on the stone balcony. Bill watched, concern to evident, too bright. 

Why? What was he trying to gain?

“If you’re going to hurt me,” Dipper whispered, cupping his face in his hands, no longer able to look at the bowing demon, “Just hurt me. I can’t do this, I can’t!” 

“I won’t hurt you, Dipper,” liar, “I didn’t hurt you,” liar, “It was someone else, and as soon as I find out who dared to lay a finger on you they will find themselves paying for eternity.” 

Cold fire heated the monster’s voice. To genuine, to unlike the Bill he knew. 

“Leave,” he demanded, voice breaking on the word, “leave...” 

“I’ll check on you again later,” a promise before steps moved away. Dipper waited, only looking back up when he heard the thud of a door closing. He was alone on the balcony, that strange form nowhere in sight. A sob made it past his throat and for the second time, he cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Human body Bill because I can't get behind shipping a triangle and a kid. Sorry! Teenager Bill at that because he wants his Pine Tree to be more comfortable with him.


	6. Space Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For all intents and purposes it was a castle. The stone brick walls, the old fourniture, even the wisps of cobwebs crossing the high ceiling. It was incredibly silent though.

******  
Bill didn’t come back during his break down. Or maybe the demon was watching out of sight. Dipper found he couldn’t care. At this point he was completely aware of how powerless he was against the all powerful being. Case and point, all signs seemed to show he was in a castle, in space. There was no chance of him getting in contact with his family, or leaving. 

He could only assume that his being able to breath was thanks to Bill. Something he was hardly grateful for. If the demon decided to torture him again, he would take death over giving him the satisfaction. 

The room he had woken in was rather sparse. Besides the bed and a single dresser, there was nothing. Dipper was careful to skip over the blue and white hat placed purposefully on said dresser. The picture emblazoned on its front only made him ache. 

When he was finally able to breathe again and get his legs to work, he started for the door Bill had left through. 

If he was going to die he wasn’t just going to sit there and wait for it. As much as he hated to admit it, there was a small twinge of curiosity he couldn’t push down when he thought about a castle floating amongst the stars. His body was still shaken, his arms crossed protectively over his chest as he poked his head out into the hall beyond the room. 

For all intents and purposes it was a castle. The stone brick walls, the old fourniture, even the wisps of cobwebs crossing the high ceiling. It was incredibly silent though. 

Dipper looked around him wearily, half expecting a golden triangle to pop out of thin air, screaming ‘surprise!’, and then try to decapitate him. Well, maybe not decapitate. Bill liked to make things slow. He liked to draw them out, listen to the screaming. A shudder jolted the boy’s lithe body. Memories he couldn’t stop moving through his mind in reminder. 

His feet began to move, focusing on looking around pointlessly over breaking down again. 

The first few doors he tried were locked, knobs jingling when he tried them. After those, he stopped trying to get into the rooms and just walked down the hall. A few corners and he was suddenly descending a large staircase. The whole place was like a maze. A couple times he could’ve sworn he was doubling back but he’d never turned. 

Most of the rooms and halls he passed were vacant. It was like half the castle was left to decay, walls knocked down in some places and windows shattered. 

He didn’t know how long he walked, but he was starting to feel a bit better. The strain pushed away bad memories, curiosity keeping him busy. 

Then he found something he just couldn’t leave alone. Two massive wooden doors, engraved with symbols he had never seen before. Just like a large red button labeled, ‘don’t touch’, it was helpless to try and keep people out. Something about the doors screamed to be opened. 

Dipper reached out, fingers closing around the metal door handle slowly. He pushed. The doors didn’t budge. Taking a deep breath, he pressed his body into the wood. A faint creak, and then they were shifting. His shoulder ached from how hard he was pushing but finally he got it open enough to slip through. 

Squeezing through the doors wasn’t hard, but keeping his mouth shut when he saw what was on the other side was. 

He was outside. It was some sort of sci-fi garden. Glowing flowers and flora he had never seen before crowded the courtyard. Stone steps led to an open pavilion, and more steps led away to other twin doors. Looking up, he saw not only the stars, but glowing constellations. Almost like illusions cast over the space, too bright to actually be there. 

His shoes struck quietly against stone as he began to walk further away from the cracked door. Most interestingly were the carvings on the pavilion pillars ahead of him. The circle of stone had no roof, open to the sky. In the floor, on the supports, on the steps; etchings of a language he had never seen. 

Dipper reached out, fingertips tracing over the scarred stone in wonder. 

“Dipper,” he turned, the teen from before suddenly behind him. He hadn’t heard him approach, hadn’t known he was there; just like Bill. 

“Bill,” he said softly, ducking his head.

“Can we talk now?”


	7. Healing Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Against his better judgement, Dipper let his eyes open again. Bill’s hand was stopped in front of his face, palm out. He swallowed.

******  
His instincts told him to back up, to turn and run. Even if the demon’s new disguise had startled him before, it was still Bill. It was still the monster that had hurt and betrayed him. 

One step back, shoulder knocking into the pillar he had been studying just a moment before. Bill raised his hand and he flinched, eyes fluttering close by reflex. 

“Pine Tree, I’m not going to hurt you.” And Dipper didn’t understand. He didn’t understand because this was Bill. This was a Bill that didn’t look like Bill, didn’t talk like Bill. Emotions he had never before heard from the dream demon. Emotions he wasn’t capable of. So he kept his eyes closed. It was easier that way. He wouldn’t see it coming, he wouldn’t tense up. 

“I don’t believe you.” His voice was far calmer than it should’ve been. He felt completely shaken inside. Like every piece of him had been cut out and rearranged by what happened. He didn’t feel like himself.

“I know,” why was he accepting that? Why wasn’t he mad that his ploy was failing? “I know because I saw what happened, remember? You let me in and I saw. The thing that hurt you took my appearance to cause you pain and let it close. But that wasn’t me.”

He sounded...Dipper didn’t even know how to describe it. It was like Bill was angry, remorseful, frustrated, in pain, and so many other things. It was like he was full of emotions that had mixed together and were now overflowing. 

He didn’t know. 

“I can’t,” another step, scratches on his back rubbing painfully into stone. He didn’t bother to stop the hiss of pain. His mind was too busy to focus on it, until he felt something move in front of his face, air making his bangs move slightly.

Against his better judgement, Dipper let his eyes open again. Bill’s hand was stopped in front of his face, palm out. He swallowed.

“Let me heal you,” he sounded so upset. Those golden eyes were dimmed with pain, but that wasn’t possible. He couldn’t feel pain. “I’ll never use my powers on you without permission again Dipper. I swear it, so please.” 

“Please?” His brain was fried. He didn’t know what was happening anymore. Bill was asking permission, and was promising something that he wouldn’t keep. Dipper shifted and felt the rub against his injuries. He closed his eyes again, not wanting to see what happened.

“Do what you want...” He couldn’t fight the demon. Bill knew that. This was just a game, just a play. Bill was keeping him like a pet, playing with him, waiting until he grew bored. 

There was a faint heat suddenly flowing over his skin and he tensed. The image of blue fire to bright in his mind. And then the pain he felt was fading, slowly, gently. It wasn’t how Bill’s magic usually felt. It was strange, abnormal.

“Are you really Bill Cipher?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short, but I really don't want to write when I'm not motivated. That just makes them turn out bad. I wrote what I was motivated to and stopped, please forgive me.


	8. Black Ink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hand slipped from his face, dropping down to catch his left hand. Carefully, his hand was raised, until it was held palm out in front of his face. Dipper stared at the back of his hand, suddenly reminded of the small black triangle inked in the very center of it.

******  
His question seemed to startle Bill. The sharp intake of breath he heard was definitely new. Did Bill even need to breathe?

“Why are you asking that?” He wasn’t sure if that was anger or sadness in his voice. Probably his imagination. Bill couldn’t feel anything so emotions were beyond the insane monster. 

“Bill Cipher is different from you,” facts he knew how to list, it was almost a little calming to be able to be right. It made him feel like he was suddenly in control even if that was impossible, “He doesn’t feel, he looks different, he acts different, he talks different, he treats me diff-”

“Dipper,” a hand was grasping his chin, his eyes flying open on reflex to find intense golden eyes only inches from his own, “I am me, I am Bill Cipher. And for your information, I can feel. It’s just been a while since I’ve wanted to. I changed my appearance for you, so you wouldn’t flinch every second you looked at me. I act different because it’s how you make me act; the same for how I talk. And I treat you differently,” the hand grew more gentle, sliding up to cup his cheek softly, “because I’ve realized how wrong I was.” 

The long list he had been given was compared to what he knew. It was so different. And why was blaming Dipper for everything? Why did he care?

“Why? Why me? Don’t you have some other pet you can toy with?” It was a completely honest question. Somehow, it seemed to hurt Bill. 

The hand slipped from his face, dropping down to catch his left hand. Carefully, his hand was raised, until it was held palm out in front of his face. Dipper stared at the back of his hand, suddenly reminded of the small black triangle inked in the very center of it. 

“Do you remember our deal?” 

“Deal?” He echoed, staring vacantly at his new ink. There was maybe a moment, between pain and death, but it was hazy.

“When I healed you,” he released his hand, “when you gave yourself to me.” 

Gave-

Dipper paled, swallowing thickly as he tried to remember what he’d done. It was too hard, he hadn’t been in his right mind. 

“I am your pet,” he breathed in horror, wide eyed as he looked at Bill, “you own me?”

“No,” again Bill was panicking, but he was too upset to understand, “Not a pet, I-”

“A puppet then?” Anger was building. Anger built up by fear and shame as he thoughts about how stupid he had been, “‘Eenie, meenie, minie, YOU!’ Right?”

He seemed to remember what he was quoting, but this time it was him that was flinching. He looked away from Dipper, taking a couple steps back guiltily. Yet it wasn’t enough to stop him from speaking.

“Not a pet, or a puppet.” 

“Then what?!” Dipper exploded, heat prickling his eyes as they began to fill. His emotions were bubbling over and he couldn’t-

“Mine,” Bill’s voice was all too assured suddenly, looking at the panicking boy with a darkness that made him shudder, “I want to make you mine.” 

That exact phrasing had him freezing up. He felt like a deer caught in headlights. Like death was hurtling toward him and his body wasn’t listening. 

“Dipper,” Bill was angry and it was too much of a difference. It left him spinning as the now teenager turned and began to walk away from him, “I want you to be mine, and by the contexts of our deal you are. Stop fighting me, and I’ll find out who hurt you. Until then,” he reached one of the doors back to the castle, gaze cold as he looked back, “be good.”


	9. Computable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He would be lucky if Dipper ever trusted him again.

******  
Bill hadn’t meant to get so upset. Dipper had just been so mad, so hurt all of sudden. And then he had quoted what he said when he stupidly made the boy his puppet. It had made him angry, not at Dipper, at himself. At the one who hurt what was his.

When he got his hands on them-

The door slammed behind him, leaving Pine Tree alone in the garden. He ran a gloved hand down his face, trying to push down the emotions raging inside him. Emotions. He had emotions. It was as he told the kid, it wasn’t that he didn’t have emotions, just that he hadn’t wanted to feel them. 

Thanks to what happened though, the floodgates were open. All the emotions he had been pretending didn’t exist were free. It made it extremely hard to keep his usual attitude when just under his skin was a burning fire. 

The body was another thing that was unusual. It had been an attempt to make Dipper somewhat more comfortable. And it seemed to work too. He wasn’t flinching away from even looking at him now, though he did keep reacting like he thought Bill was going to hit him. 

A vase shattered as he walked past it, his powers lashing out at the idea. 

Oh how he wanted to go back and murder whoever had made Pine Tree think that. How he wanted to tell his past self to never lay a hand on him.

He would be lucky if Dipper ever trusted him again.  
******  
Dipper watched the door slam shut behind Bill, body still frozen from what he’d heard. The way he had said it sounded like-

If it had been anyone else, he would think-

WHAT?!

His hands reached behind to hold onto the pillar, using it to support his suddenly to heavy body as the thought passed his mind. But there was no way. 

He lifted his hand again, looking at the black triangle long and hard. He still couldn’t remember what the deal had been exactly. There was a split second, but mostly it was just pain. Dipper had been dying after all.

Bill had tried to kill him.

Or, not Bill? But it had looked like him, but he swore it wasn’t, but-

The back of his head thumped roughly against stone, sighing loudly as he tried to get his racing mind back under the speed limit. Absentmindedly he moved his raised hand back, running slowly over the back of his shirt. Under the fabric he could feel his spine, his bones, but there was no pain.

Bill had healed him. Once, twice. He had sworn he would never use his powers on him without permission. And then he had gotten so mad. 

Of course, Dipper was screaming at him, and flinching from him, and practically breaking down.

But he knew what he had seen. Bill had done this to him, had hurt him in the first place. But then, Bill had also seen. He had sworn someone disguised as him, but was that even possible?

What was he thinking, of course it was. After all the insanity he had seen over the last couple years a shapeshifter was hardly new. Plus there was Bill’s new body...

He let his head thump back again. His eyes slid shut as he looked up at the glowing constellations above him. He was in space, in a space castle, far from home, and with a human Bill that apparently owned him. Yeah, okay, that was...

Incomputable. 

A groan left his lips, hands moving up to his face to rub tiredly at his eyes. He’d almost started crying again. His head was pounding with the start of a headache, and even though it wasn’t helping, he let his head fall back again.

Ow.

Okay, first rest. Then try to comprehend world changing events. 

He pushed off from the pillar, heading for the door he had entered through, still partially cracked open. The only issue he was going to focus on now was how to find that room again.


	10. Cushions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He found the boy curled up in the cushion room.

******  
Bill was frustrated. 

He had already spent hours trying to find out who he needed to destroy. Hours! Far longer than it should take. And he still hadn’t found out anything.

Dipper’s memories were a dead end because all he remembered was Bill hurting him. The imposter had played his role perfectly, precisely how he himself would’ve done it. Not that he would. 

There was nothing left in that forest clearing, nothing left behind. 

He tried other things, but nothing worked. It was like the thing had appeared, done that to Dipper, and then vanished. 

It was frustrating.

After a time, he realized that he needed to go check up on his Pine Tree. It was a break he needed. Which was weird. He was the incredible Bill Cipher with unlimited power! How could he need a break?

What he really needed, he found.

Dipper hadn’t found his way back to the room. He found the boy curled up in the cushion room.

Yeah, you heard him right. Cushion room. When he made the castle, he had been less worried about practicality and more about defensefulness. Bill hadn’t yet finished decorating the interior, but there were a few rooms done.

Case and point, cushion room. It was exactly how it sounded. Soft cushions of every shape and size were piled around, drapes swung low from the ceiling, and cozy fires enchanted not to burn anything were nestled in several fireplaces. He had wanted a place Dipper could relax and read.

These were sort of the wrong circumstances, but he decided he would take it when he watched the boy turn in his sleep, humming tiredly.

Or not. Human bodies were so strange and hard to control. Watching the way he stretched, his tee shirt riding up his midriff, his hip bones jutting out as he moved, his lips sleepily saying Bill’s na-

He banged his head against the stone wall. 

Now was not the time to want Pine Tree. First he had to find out who hurt him. Then, he had to gain back some semblance of trust, if that was even possible. Something that wouldn’t be helped if the boy woke up to find Bill watching him sleep.

“Bill?”

Imagining his voice was out too. That opened a whole new can of worms he wasn’t ready to deal with.

“Bill?” 

So hoarse with sleep, blurry, tired. Waking up togeth-

“Hey, Bill!” He didn’t jump. Really, he didn’t. He calmly and casually stopped hitting his head against the wall and turned to face the apparently now-awake Dipper.

“What are you doing?”


	11. Be Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “...Bill,” why not? If he was going to be in hell anyway, might as well burn.

******  
Dipper didn’t find his room again. Instead he found a room full of very soft cushions that was heated by cozy fires. He made due with what he found.

He didn’t expect to be woken up. He also didn’t expect the thing that woke him to be Bill Cipher banging his head against the wall. 

Bill didn’t answer when he called his name the first few times. He just kept on smacking his forehead until it started to grow red. Finally, Dipper grew frustrated.

“Hey, Bill!” The demon finally stopped, jumping at the sound of his voice. That was new. When he turned to look at him, his golden eyes were wide and startled, mouth open slightly and face burning.

“What are you doing?”

“I was just having a bit of fun is all,” was the reply shot back at him, but it was belied by the redness of his face. It was strange, seeing Bill blush. Dipper had never seen it before. A pyramid couldn’t really blush after all. 

“Yeah, cause pain is hilarious,” he huffed, sitting up in his pile of cushions. Absently he adjusted his shirt from where it had risen in his sleep, pausing when he saw the way Bill followed his movement. 

‘Make you mine,’ echoed through his head, making him flush at the thought. He really wasn’t ready to think about such things. 

“Did you need something?” He asked, trying to push away the idea as he got comfortable and Bill began to approach. Sleep had done him a world of good. His head felt so much clearer, and he was ready to hear the demon out. Even if it all turned out to be a lie, he didn’t have a better option anyway. 

“It just occurred to me that you wouldn’t be able to find your way back,” he shrugged, casually falling into the cushions beside him and making him shift away, “but you found the cushion room, so it was fine.”

“You designed this room?” It was such an odd idea. Thinking of Bill magically summoning a truckload of cushions to shove in one room, lighting fires, laughing maniacally all the while.

“Yeah, I designed the whole castle, kid,” he sighed, turning on his side to face Dipper, “It’s not done yet though.”

“...Bill,” why not? If he was going to be in hell anyway, might as well burn.

“Yes, Pine Tree?” He sounded genuinely curious, looking him up and down as if something about his appearance would give away what he wanted to ask. 

“You said you weren’t the one that tried to kill me this time.” Some of the lightness faded away, a coldness taking hold of Bill’s eyes that made him shiver. 

“I wasn’t. Are you ready to believe me now?” 

He paused. Was he? Was Dipper ready to take the demon’s words at face value?

No, he wasn’t. But he didn’t have much of a choice. Bill apparently owned him now. He was far from home with no chance of help, and he seemed to be acting decent for the time being.

“No,” he said, much calmer than he felt. Bill frowned, but he didn’t immediately explode which was a bonus. 

“Find the person that hurt me,” he continued, watching the way his eyes narrowed in determination at his compromise, “Find them, and prove it to me. Then I’ll believe you. Until then...”

He remembered Bill’s words in the garden, a smile pulling at his lips as he rested his chin in his hand, “I’ll be good.”

The way Bill swallowed was kind of nice. He could worry about the problems later. Dipper had just come back from a date with death, he could use a vacation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me hoomans for I have sinned. My motivation for this story kind of tapered off because it was originally just meant to be the oneshot. I shall take a break and hopefully return with my inspiration flowing...hopefully...  
> I'm sorry I have committed the sin I always hate seeing fanfiction authors commit. I understand if you can never forgive me.  
> *Edit*  
> I intend to continue this, but only once I finish one or two of my other current fics. Please hold on for just a bit!


End file.
